So, it’s June… school is out for summer and I am wracking my brain trying to think about how I can help teachers in their classrooms. The biggest thing I saw over the last couple of years is kids just NOT doing what they were supposed to! It didn’t matter if they were in their regular classroom, specials, recess or library… they were just going crazy! How can we work together to modify behavior at school?

After having meetings with the principals and other teachers. This did seem to be a universal problem in our building and it wasn’t just my imagination… This time!

So… I am in my office, I already had my coffee, I AM READY to solve all the problems! Bring it on!

I fire up my computer and start digging into research all about modifying kids behavior. Right… cause I can totally do that! I am prepared to write 100 behavior plans if I have to…. just kidding… that was TOTALLY a joke!

No behavior plans here! I found a way that might be helpful without going through all that extra work for kiddos who need extra support. Yes, I do believe there is a time and place for official behavior plans. But, in this post, I’m talking more along the lines of the students who just need a little extra push and a whole lot of love, without having to go through hours of writing an official plan.

I did hours of research, finding information and resources, for my teachers. So, why not share all that with you! Then, if you find yourself in a pickle and need behavior research and intervention ideas… you will have it!

Getting Teachers on My Side

I am in no shape or form an expert on behavior! There is so much out there… I can always be learning more. Once I brought this attention to my principals, they wanted me to present this information during our Welcome Back Faculty Meeting in August. I was like… Yay!

The number one thing I did NOT want to do… is come across to my amazing teacher friends… that I could do it better. Because let’s face it… I was a teacher… and now I’m not… I GET IT! Teaching is hard work! Not that counseling isn’t… but you get the idea!

I wanted to come across lighthearted and funny, yet informational at the same time. I truly want to be a helper in changing kids behavior. I can’t do it by myself and neither can they. But, if we come together, we can make a difference.

Here is my Back to School Faculty Meeting Video (Shhh… don’t tell my friends!)

https://youtu.be/9uQdL4svOeY

Finding Helpful Information

Sasha from (The Autism Helper) has some amazing ideas on how to collect simple data. She also has a TON of information on behaviors in general such as the functions of behavior and tips to handle those. I provided a link here… but I urge you to dive deeper into her site. It really is helpful… Thanks, Sasha!

Taking Data on Extreme Behaviors

Haley from (Teaching with Haley) also has a great post about how teachers can change the way they think about classroom discipline. She explains the struggles in such a way that other teachers will be able to connect and understand that it is possible and sending students out of the room should be a last resort. Also… she has another post with behavior charts!

Easy to Implement Behavior Charts

PBIS World has some amazing resources for teachers to use! We are not a PBIS School… but this has some valuable information that could be used by anyone!

Behavior Interventions

Escambia County School District (in Florida) has an awesome site for official Behavior Plans. They have an entire write up about conducting a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). However, what I found most useful for my school building was the links on the right-hand side. About halfway down, they give links to FREE behavior data sheets.

FREE Behavior Data Sheets

Providing Help on My End

I wanted to go through all of this because I want to truly be helpful!

Therefore, if I go into that meeting a preach about modifying behaviors and being a team player… then I have got to be ready to suck it up when the time comes! When teachers start coming at me with kiddos who need help… I am going to pull out my research, sit down with the teacher and talk about collecting ABC Data.

Once the teacher has gone through the data collection phase, I will ask them to bring me their data. I can make it look nice for them, show them how I did it, so they can continue taking nice graphs, that show improvement, to the principal. 🙂

Once we have an idea of the functions of behavior we can start brainstorming ideas to help the student. We might list 5 different interventions on a piece of paper and let the teacher narrow it down to one or two they feel most comfortable with.

Then, if they need me to do check-ins or help in any way, I can. However, the ultimate goal is for the teacher to be fully implementing strategies, on their own, and for the students to feel connected and successful from their own teacher…. not me. This will provide more success to come!

I will continue to pull out individual students to work with and deliver small-group counseling services to kids in need. Some of these groups will be fixed around students receiving interventions in the classroom.

Pulling It All Together

I made myself a sheet to remember which kids are receiving interventions that need my help and when I can start weening them back to their teacher. I wanted to share this student list with you… you can find it below!

Click HERE for Your FREE Student Tracker

Thanks for reading! How do you handle extreme behaviors in your school? Do you work together to modify behavior?